The Man Who'll Never Return
Barrie McCombs
: I'm looking for the lyrics to the song which was popular
: during the 50's about a man who boarded a Boston subway and
: never got off. I believe it was recorded by the "Four
: Freshman". If not, it was a quartet which was fairly
: popular during the late 50s and early 60s in America.
: This is my first posting, so I hope I'm doing it correctly.
: If my email address is not automatically included, I can
: be reached at rvp...@netvoyage.net.
The song is "M.T.A." The lyrics should be available at:
DIGITAL TRADITION:
- URL: http://pubweb.parc.xerox.com/digitrad
- Lyrics (rarely chords), organized by title
If they are not there, then e-mail me.
Don't despair if Digitrad does not respond, Their server has been down
whenever I have tried this week.
- Barrie
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| Barrie McCombs, MD, CCFP | Family Physician by day |
| bmcc...@acs.ucalgary.ca | Folk Musician during full moons |
| Calgary Folk Music URL: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~bmccombs/calfolk.html |
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Roland Penttila
during the 50's about a man who boarded a Boston subway and
never got off. I believe it was recorded by the "Four
Freshman". If not, it was a quartet which was fairly
popular during the late 50s and early 60s in America.
This is my first posting, so I hope I'm doing it correctly.
If my email address is not automatically included, I can
be reached at rvp...@netvoyage.net.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help or steer me in the
right direction. (I would like the info asap as it is a
trivia question posed by a friend as a Christmas present
and the deadline for answers is January 15th.
Doug Weller
rvp...@netvoyage.net (Roland Penttila) wrote:
> I'm looking for the lyrics to the song which was popular
> during the 50's about a man who boarded a Boston subway and
> never got off. I believe it was recorded by the "Four
> Freshman". If not, it was a quartet which was fairly
> popular during the late 50s and early 60s in America.
>
Kingston Trio, The Kingston Trio At Large -- M.T.A. by Bess Hawes.
Can't help with the lyrics though
--
Doug Weller
"We must know the truth, and we must love the truth we know,
and we must act according to the measure of our love." Thomas Merton
***'De Chelonian Mobile!'***
Jim_P
Penttila <rvp...@netvoyage.net>' wrote:
>I'm looking for the lyrics to the song which was popular
>during the 50's about a man who boarded a Boston subway and
>never got off. I believe it was recorded by the "Four
>Freshman". If not, it was a quartet which was fairly
>popular during the late 50s and early 60s in America.
You'll undoubtedly be deluged with replies, but I believe that the
song you're referring to is "M.T.A.", recorded by, among others, The
Kingston Trio, and available on their recently (re-?) released greatest
hits CD.
Belvoir
be back up by now. The song (Charley on the MTA) was composed by Jackie
Berman (now Steiner, I believe) and was a parody of Henry Clay Work's The
Ship that Never Returned--one of many songs to that tune (Wreck of the
Old 97 is probably the best-known.)
dick greenhaus
Tonysica
a wife who hands him a sandwich each day as the train passes by. She could
have handed him money instead. Either a very dumb song or she had a
boyfriend. Whadda ya think?
Tony Sica
Rudyard John Coltman
tony...@aol.com (Tonysica) writes:
It was written for a political campaign. The point was that he was going to be
stuck on that train no matter what.
Daniel Reitman
On borrowed account
Uncle Bob
: In the song Charlie, they guy without the money to get off the train, has
: a wife who hands him a sandwich each day as the train passes by. She could
: have handed him money instead. Either a very dumb song or she had a
: boyfriend. Whadda ya think?
: Tony Sica
All Charlie needed was a nickel! Maybe he could have hustled for it on
the train.
--
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Uncle Bob..............unclebob@ripco.com
WTYates
>I'm looking for the lyrics to the song which was popular
>during the 50's about a man who boarded a Boston subway and
>never got off. I believe it was recorded by the "Four
>Freshman". If not, it was a quartet which was fairly
>popular during the late 50s and early 60s in America.
The song was The MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority for the city of
Boston). The Kingston Trio had a hit with it, although I believe the song
dates back before then to a political dispute in that city when the MTA
raised the fares. According to the song, poor Charlie got on and the fare
went up before he could get off and they wanted him to pay the difference,
which, of course, he didn't have.
--Bill Yates
--wty...@aol.com
"Follow instructions, avoid excessive use."
Daniel S Goodman
George O'Brian(sp?). It originally ended with "Fight the fare increase,
vote for George O'Brian; Get poor Charlie off the MTA!" The Kingston
Trio changed it so that now "Fight the fare increase" is repeated and
George O'Brian isn't mentioned.
I've heard the original songwriter sing it, on radio some time ago. He
is noted a talented or skilled musician.
Dan Goodman d...@maroon.tc.umn.edu
John Albert
On that tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket
Kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the M.T.A.
CHORUS:
But did he ever return?
No, he never returned
And his fate is still unlearned
He may ride forever
'Neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned
Charlie handed in his dime at the Kendall Square station
And he changed for Jamaica Plain
When he got there the conductor told him
"One more nickel..."
Charlie couldn't get offa that train!
(CHORUS)
Now all night long Charlie rides through the stations
Cryin', what will become of me?
How can I afford to see my sister in Chelsea
Or my cousin in Roxbury?
(CHORUS)
Charlie's wife goes down to the Scollay Square station
Every day at a quarter past two...
And through the open window
She hands Charlie a sandwich
As the train comes rumblin' through!
(CHORUS)
Now ye citizens of Boston
Don't you think it's a scandal
How the people have to pay and pay
Fight the fair increase
Vote for George O'Reilly
Help get Charlie off the M.T.A.!
(CHORUS)
...typed from the memory of my younger days. Guess if you want to
fight a subway fare increase nowadays, you just go to federal court
and sue on the grounds that it's "racist" (like they tried in
N.Y.C.).... 8-)
- John
(ex-folkie)
David Keller
> In article <4caphv$e...@news.netvoyage.net>,
> rvp...@netvoyage.net (Roland Penttila) wrote:
>
> > I'm looking for the lyrics to the song which was popular
> > during the 50's about a man who boarded a Boston subway and
> > never got off. I believe it was recorded by the "Four
> > Freshman". If not, it was a quartet which was fairly
> > popular during the late 50s and early 60s in America.
> >
> Kingston Trio, The Kingston Trio At Large -- M.T.A. by Bess Hawes.
> Can't help with the lyrics though
>
>
> --
> Doug Weller
> "We must know the truth, and we must love the truth we know,
> and we must act according to the measure of our love." Thomas Merton
> ***'De Chelonian Mobile!'***
>
>
Let me tell you the story of a man named Charlie
On that tragic and fateful day,
Put a nickel in his pocket, kissed his wife and family, went to ride on
the MTA.
(Chorus)
But did he ever return, no he never returned, and his fate is still unlearned
(Poor old Charley he may) Ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston, he's
the man who never returned.
There is a lot more that I can't recall. It was actually a campaign song
in a Boston mayoral (?) race in the early sixties. Good luck finding the
rest.
David Keller MD
University of Massachusetts - Worcester Campus
email:David....@ummed.edu
CamscoMus
Wally Macnow
Matthew Borus
:In the song Charlie, they guy without the money to get off the train,
has
: a wife who hands him a sandwich each day as the train passes by. She
could
: have handed him money instead. Either a very dumb song or she had a
: boyfriend. Whadda ya think?
: Tony Sica
I don't know if it's that dumb a song. I may be reading too much into
the whole thing, but I saw the song as a metaphor for the way we deal
with people who get caught up and pushed underfoot by our economic
system. Don't scoff yet, it makes some sense, I think. Charlie just
hops on the MTA, i.e. society (a vague term but not a useless one)
thinking that he'll be just fine and succeed and things. Once he's
there, however, it goes faster than he can keep up with, and he's
trapped in his situation. And yes, his wife could have done more than
just give him a sandwich every day given him what he needed to get off
the train, but take a look at what we do with the poor: we give them
food and what they need to keep on going (sometimes), but we don't give
them the kind of assistance (i.e. job training, an erconomic system that
doesn't screw so many people over, etc. etc.) that might get them out of
the situations they're mired in. Certainly, it's a very simplified
metaphor, and thus not an entirely valid one at all, but it does make
some decent points, I think. Not that the songwriter inteneded it to be
a metaphor, but how much does that matter?
-Matt Borus
smb...@oberlin.edu
Majjick
Goodman) writes:
> The Kingston Trio changed it so that now "Fight the fare increase"
> is repeated and George O'Brian isn't mentioned.
You must be listening to a different Kingston Trio from me: on "At Large"
they sing "George O'Brian", and on "College Concert" they sing "whoever's
running".
Which version were you listening to?
Paul Magnussen